Introduction
These articles by some of the leading scholars and commentators of Islam
in the English language offer incisive and thought provoking analysis
of the horrendous events that took place on September 11th. These events
will forever have a lasting impact on all citizens of the world. Hopefully
the articles will show people that whilst the terrorists may have been
identified with Islam and Muslims, they and those whom they follow are
far from the core teachings and basic principles of this great Abrahamic
faith.

A
Time for IntrospectionHamza Yusuf Hanson"On
September 11th our lives changed forever. We witnessed an act of
aggression that in many ways does not have a parallel in past or present
times. There are several elements that make this act unique, from the
use of civilian planes as weapons of mass destruction to the attack on
the most widely recognised skyscrapers in the world. Nor have we ever
witnessed the terrible indictment of Islam as having a part to play in
such a heinous crime"[more]

Recapturing
Islam from the TerroristsAbdal-Hakim Murad"...there
is much despair, but there are also grounds for hope. The controls of
two great vehicles, the State Department, and Islam, need to be reclaimed
in the name of sanity and humanity. It is always hard to accept that good
might come out of evil; but perhaps only a catastrophe on this scale,
so desolating, and so seemingly hopeless, could provide the motive and
the space for such a reclamation." [more]

Making
the World Safe for TerrorismNuh Ha Mim Keller"If
there are altogether no moral reasons for this crime, there is perhaps
a discoverable mentality behind it. We call it “terrorism,” in view of
its typical motive, which is to strike terror into the hearts of those
conceived to be guilty by committing atrocities against those of the innocent
who resemble the guilty closely enough, whether in race, citizenship,
or social class, for the terror not to be lost on the guilty. But its
enormity as a crime, as I apprehend it, lies less in the motive of its
perpetrators, which is bad enough, than in the fact that shedding innocent
blood is wrong."[more]

Why
Extremism Will Always FailAbd el-Wahid Miranda"Two
weeks after the World Trade Center disaster, a Black Muslim of my acquaintance
visited a news store situated a few blocks from the site of the catastrophe.
The store, which had reopened that day, was run by five Senegalese immigrants.
Their Muslim background was clearly known to the lady who walked in, who
came straight up to them and said: ‘We’re so sorry about what happened.
Don’t worry. We know it wasn’t Muslims who did it. It was the Wahhabis!’"[more]also
available in Spanish.

Interviewwith Shaykh Nuh by Voice of the Cape radio station"I
am hopeful. Anyone who wants to understand everything about what’s going
on in this world or the next only has to read the Qur’an. He will understand
why Allah Most High has created good people, why He has created wicked
people, and why He has created everything in this world and in the next.
Everything is part of Allah’s grand purpose. It’s impossible to read the
Qur’an without being hopeful." [more]

Interviewwith Dr. Mansur AbdussalamEscuderoFormer
President of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Organisations"We
viewed the attacks, nonetheless, with a very high degree of concern. Initially
there was the pain for the innocent victims and their families, expressed
in many letters of condolence. This was followed, secondly, and as a result
of the media treatment of the event, by a preoccupation with the consequences
of the attack. We Spanish Muslims have seen our religion, our spiritual
way, demonized and transformed by the power of the press into something
monstrous. "[more]

The
Language of IslamophobiaJeremy Henzell-Thomas "So
we understand the immense power of words. But with that power comes a
truly awesome responsibility. In speaking of the language of Islamophobia,
it would be a very simple matter to give examples over the last two weeks
of the abuse of that power, what William Dalrymple castigates in a recent
article in The Independent as the “ludicrously unbalanced, inaccurate
and one-sided” images of Islam perpetrated by what he calls the “scribes
of the new racism” even in our quality broadsheets. This is not, of course,
a new phenomenon." [more]

The
Events of September 11th:Thoughts and Emotions
-Atif Imtiaz"Such
is the perceived enormity of that day that we cannot even categorise it;
it remains beyond categorisation. The sheer violence of the initial impact
followed by the heart-crushing collapse of the twin towers was more than
this soul could bear, and I began to turn my face away as the TV editors
repeatedly showed the images of death."[more]